Jets to acquire Tebow, split refund with Broncos

Douglas LeeMar 21, 2012 9:13 PM

Adam Schefter is reporting on ESPN that the Broncos and Jets have again agreed to a deal that will send Tim Tebow and a seventh-rounder from Denver to New Jersey in return for a fourth- and sixth-rounder. The Jets had announced the same trade earlier in the day but had not yet read the details of the quarterback's contract; at issue was the $6,277,500 guarantee Denver had paid Tebow last summer.

$5,036,250 of that figure covered Tebow's 2012-2014 salaries, and as is customary with such advances, any team acquiring Tebow would owe the Broncos a refund on the salary already paid but not yet earned. Instead, the Jets and Broncos have agreed to split the difference, meaning the Jets will be sending Denver about $2.5M to complete the deal.

According to Schefter, the Jaguars had jumped back into the bidding after the initial deal fell through, and were willing to pay most or all of that $5,036,250 figure. Schefter reports that Tebow ended up having some input into where he landed, and he chose the Jets, despite wide assumptions he preferred to go home to Florida.

As Schefter puts it, the Jets coaching staff was clearly more interested than the Jaguars coaches were, and this apparently made the move to Gang Green more appealing to Tebow.

Mike Klis says the Jaguars were offering only their fourth-rounder in the deal, and not the six-for-a-seven the Jets gave up. But with the reported financial discrepancy and this apparent difference of draft choice compensation, it looks like Denver took the lesser deal to do right by Tebow. John Elway may be one slick salesman, but he's also a man of his word.

Our goal was to do the best thing for Tim and the Broncos, and I believe the opportunity that presented itself with the New York Jets accomplishes that objective. Tim made a lot of strides last year and has a very promising career ahead of him. If anyone is willing to put the work in to be great, it’s Tim Tebow.

I have a great deal of respect for Tim and the positive impact he makes both on the field and in the community. He has a bright future in this league, and I’m hopeful he will enjoy continued success with the Jets.

Tim Tebow deserves an enormous amount of credit for what he accomplished and how he carried himself during his time with the Broncos. From taking over a 1-4 team and leading it to the playoffs to energizing our fans and this community, Tim left an extraordinary mark on this organization. His time in Denver will always hold a special place in Broncos history.

John Fox also issued a statement commending Tebow:

Tim Tebow brought an incredible spirit and spark to our team that helped us turn the season around. Along the way, he earned the trust of his teammates and coaches while inspiring our fans. His competitiveness, clutch performances and will to win played an instrumental role in our team earning a division title and advancing in the playoffs.

A player and person like Tim don’t come around very often. He is real and he walks the walk. I’m looking forward to watching him continue his career with the Jets, and I wish him the very best.

Again, the Broncos will have one pick in the first, second, third, fifth, and sixth rounds, plus two in the fourth. The fifth-rounder was originally that of the Rams, who sent the pick to Denver in return for WR Brandon Lloyd; Denver's own fifth-rounder went to Cleveland to complete the disastrous Peyton Hillis/Brady Quinn trade.

Denver had sent their own sixth-rounder to the Eagles as compensation for LB Joe Mays, who re-signed earlier in the week. Originally, the Broncos had traded RB J.J. Arrington to Philadelphia in return for Mays, but the oft-injured back failed to make the Eagles roster in 2010, triggering the draft choice stipulation.

For those keeping score and wondering at home, the pick Denver sent to Philly in return for Brodrick Bunkley is a conditional 2013 choice, believed to be a sixth- or seventh-rounder. Unfortunately, the team was unable to sign Bunkley, who instead agreed to a five-year deal with the Saints.

Doug is IAOFM’s resident newsman and spelling czar. Follow him on Twitter @IAOFM

loving the train wreck at GGNation. That site is going to be epic, some of those folks arent even trying to be nice about the trade. Please let hard knocks cover them this year.

Posted by BRASO on 2012-03-21 22:12:19

Yeah, I didn't buy his statement fully, sounded like a lot of face-saving PR-speak (not surprisingly) but I am sure that HE at least really wanted Tebow. Unless he really does want to move Jaguars out of town, in which case Tebow selling more tix wouldn't help that cause.

Posted by underdog on 2012-03-21 22:03:42

Remarkable 2 wk period in Broncos Country. Exhaustion. Good luck, Tim. I hate the Jets but now I'll hope you beat the Patriots for us. Can you do that for us?

I think this may be a crazy trading draft again led by draft savant Mr X. GO BRONCOS!

Posted by Orange_and_Blue on 2012-03-21 21:58:33

I refer back to colorado_kitten's post yesterday: the GIF of Scarlet Johansson eating popcorn. Drama!

Posted by Stu Kilzer on 2012-03-21 21:55:40

Rather than return home to a front office and coaching staff that didn't want him, Tim chose a FO and coaching staff that did want him. Good for him. But it will be fascinating to see how the Tebow Show develops in New York. What's the over/under on him replacing Sanchez? 7 games?

Posted by rct930 on 2012-03-21 21:53:16

Report says that the Jags only offered a 4th round pick. That was higher than the Jets, but the Jets added the swap of 6th round pick for 7th round pick to make up for it. So the deals were fairly equal. If Tim did have a choice, we shouldn't throw Elway under the bus for taking a worse deal. They weren't identical deals

Posted by Mike Middleton on 2012-03-21 21:32:22

Jason La Canfor (sp) just tweeted Jags owner statement. Sounds like they either tried for tebow just enough so they could look like they tried for tebownation or they lost and are now trying to save face with blaine gabbert. Either way, that statement sure came out fast! Right on the heels of the trade.

Posted by EastCoastBronco7 on 2012-03-21 21:26:54

Phew. I'm beat just from being glued to IAOFM and twitter for 3 days. lol. But seriously, people are gonna say the broncos took less out of some form of guilt or something. Untrue. The broncos have a history of letting players go where they want as long as denver doesn't lose out too much. Just absolute class from this organization. Really proud to be a Denver fan. And now it is officially Manning time in Denver! September can't come fast enough!

Posted by EastCoastBronco7 on 2012-03-21 21:19:56

Classy thing for the broncos to do, in my opinion. Smart also: If you want to attract players it seems like it's best to be known as a team that treats player's well, even on their way out. That sort of reputation seems worth more than a slightly upgraded mid-round pick.

(Another benefit: good insurance against a plague of locusts befalling our city)

Posted by Ian Overgard on 2012-03-21 21:19:54

Holy cow. And finally we can all breathe for a few minutes. What a day.